Agenda
December 14th
Welcome and introduction
Fast Money, Team Space: Company Concept, Capital and Customers
Disruptive and game-changing technology and entrepreneurial initiatives are the new space norm. However, a great technical design is not enough to sustain these entrepreneurial pursuits. Growing an idea across markets also takes capital and customers. Transitioning from concept to development phase is more likely to succeed when a company can obtain stable forms of capital and potential long-term customers. Today’s Fast Money session focuses on how a startup was able to identify the right venture partners to grow their business and secured opportunities to prototype and test their designs with the US Government.
Backing the Brightest
There’s an art to later stage space company funding, especially as the exit picture for the sector is still only just starting to take shape. We’ll talk to BVP, Sequoia and Hemisphere how they evaluate what companies are looking primed for growth.
New Kids on the Launch Block
There’s a new crop of launch companies nipping at the heels of SpaceX and Rocket Lab, including Astra, Firefly and Launcher. We’ll hear from them about what the opportunities are in the evolving launch market, and how they’re posted to take advantage.
Bringing NASA to the Moon and Back
Kathy Leuders is the head of the new Space Operations Mission Directorate, responsible for activities in orbit and soon, well beyond that. How will she and NASA meet the unprecedented challenge of establishing a lasting human presence on the Moon?
Securing Space at Speed
The demand signal is clear: the U.S. government needs to spur innovative commercial capabilities to excel in an increasingly contested space domain. Hear directly from leaders driving government-commercial collaborations about opportunities to help usher in the next era of achievement in space.
Maneuvering Towards Better In-space Propulsion
What goes up must come down, but we can delay that second part a bit with better propulsion on our satellites and spacecraft. Accion Systems, Phase Four, and Morpheus Space are pushing the boundaries of in-space propulsion and will discuss the challenges and opportunities in changing how in-space assets move about.
Space Tourism Takes Off
Blue Origin’s 2021 included its first trips to space for paying passengers — including company founder Jeff Bezos and TV starship captain William Shatner. Ariane Cornell, the company’s Director of Astronaut and Orbital Sales will tell us what it’s like to retail those rides.
Space SPACs and the Public Market
We saw a number of space companies go public this past year, and many took the SPAC merger route to get there. Redwire, Rocket Lab and Astra will talk about their respective paths to the public markets, and what it’s meant for their companies and the industry.
December 15th
Welcome and introduction
Being There When Stars Form
At the earliest stages, space companies are at their riskiest. But these investors are willing to wade in and write checks to help those companies gain their footing. Hear from Space Capital, Techstars and Assembly Ventures about how they pick their winners.
The Full Service Space Company
Rocket Lab’s 2021 saw it enter the public markets, announce brand new spacecraft, acquire companies and more. We’ll talk to Peter Beck about what the one-time dedicated launch company is turning into through all this growth and change.
How Tech Startups Do Business with the DoD and US Space Force
We will describe the three main problems technology startups face when working with the Dept of Defense (DoD), and how you can overcome them to win multi-million dollar deals with the DoD and US Space Force using the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs.
University Showcase: New Frontiers in Space Exploration From OSAM to xGEO
As space technology gets smaller and less expensive, more and more countries, universities and people can participate. We’ve seen thousands of small satellites launched into earth orbit from numerous developers over the past decade, many of whom were new to space. What’s next for on-orbit servicing, assembly, and manufacturing (OSAM) and orbital debris clean up as small spacecraft move beyond earth orbit and the geostationary satellite belt (xGEO) into open space (cis-lunar space), and onto the lunar surface itself? We’re showcasing university trail blazers in space exploration. Meet the people working on the projects, find out what’s ahead, and how you can participate. Learn about the technologies that are shaping a world where OSAM, xGEO and “cis-lunar” are becoming household terms.
Empowering and Protecting In-space Operations
As investment in space skyrockets, many companies are also thinking about safety and sustainability. Protecting and extending the life and capabilities of major installations in orbit requires advances in robotics, tracking, and spacecraft design, as leaders from LeoLabs, Maxar, and Astroscale will discuss in this panel.
From Building the Space Economy to Visiting
DCVC Partner Chris Boshuizen has not only backed a number of leading space companies, including Rocket Lab — he also founded one of the pioneers in Planet Labs. But he also has the rare distinction of being able to say he’s personally traveled to space thanks to Blue Origin, and we’ll hear from him about that experience.
Saving the World: One Small Sat at a Time!
New space companies like Terran Orbital are emerging with the capability, confidence, and financing to provide US National Security with assets that previously could only be described as conceptual. In many cases, these companies are leading the field in technology, speed, innovation, and affordability. The emerging combination of private innovation and government support is launching a new era in aerospace enterprise.
Taking Earth Observation to Enterprise Scale
We’re not short of eyes in the sky, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy to collect and use the data that Earth observation networks create. Find out how mapping veteran Esri and startups SkyWatch and Wyvern are building out data infrastructure that makes orbital imagery accessible and profitable.
Station Succession
NASA has long said it wants a privately-owned and operated space station to succeed the ISS, and we’ve seen some moves in that direction. But this year, the commercial orbital space station race really ramped up, and NanoRacks co-founder and President of Voyager Space Jeffery Manber is the ideal person to hear about it from.
Robots, Meet Regolith: A New Generation of Lunar Landers and Rovers
The Moon is back on the menu with Artemis and a dozen other missions, and companies like Lockheed Martin, Masten Space, and ispace are building a new generation of robotic explorers and surveyors to roam around its surface. Hear how they design for the Moon’s unforgiving surface and what robots can do to help prepare for human arrival.